Recorded during the pandemic, the new album “Black Hole” marks the first official full-length release by Mark Steiner & His Problems since the LP “Saudade” was first launched in late. The newest single, “Hang On! (Twin Flames)” was released on Friday. October 2023, and will be supplemented with a music video by filmmaker Jean De Oliveira. Featuring special guest vocalist Ingunn Holmen, the recording includes producer and bassist Leon Muraglia, legendary drummer Ted Parsons, and guitarist Romek Paluch-Edwards, along with contributions by Czech violinist Pavel Cingl. Filmmaker Jean De Oliveira, who directed the “Insomnia” music video back in 2018, is making a new, exciting music video for this track, which has been described as a “short film.”
The lyrics of this particular song concern personal discovery, dreams, failure, reconstruction and hope. If there is one song which might be a “hit” for this ragged lot, it’ll certainly be “Hang On!”.
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“The energy is truly captivating. It’s like a musical journey that takes us along winding and emotional paths, keeping us intrigued with each chord, each beat. The way ‘Hang On! (Twin Flames)’ manages to fuse different musical influences into a cohesive harmony is remarkable. It is clear that there is a deep passion for the music that drives every note, every arrangement. The instrumentation is rich and immersive, creating a soundscape that is both lush and introspective.”
- Punk Goes Pop, USA
“This new single is a masterpiece of rock music. First, because the whole sound penetrates one’s soul. Second, because it never forgets to bring different moods on top of the active way of listening to it. It’s like an earthquake waiting to happen, and a powerful call to wake up and confront the world and its difficulties.” - Muséanima, France “Sounds vintage, galvanic and superb… Post-punk with well-defined and forceful guitars, and a sober voice with goth overtones. The choruses sound bright, precisely as if radiating a little light before the opaque and dark tone of the atmospheres, which gives a good balance to the track.”
- Sound & Vision MX, Mexico “The sound is an emotional rollercoaster that immerses listeners in a captivating musical experience. The fusion of rock and experimental elements is a bold choice, taking you to the forefront of musical innovation. This song is a perfect example of how the past and present come
together in an exciting sonic journey.” - Indie Valley Music, USA
For further information, including full bio, reviews, photos, music videos and links,
go to http://staggerhome.com
Mark Steiner & His Problems bio:
Mark Steiner lived for many years in New York City’s East Village where he worked in the film industry and as lead vocalist in swamp-rock band Piker Ryan’s Folly. Then the towers fell on September 11th. With a Norwegian passport, he then moved to Oslo in 2002, and has since then worked hard at building up a career as both an international solo artist and producer, and as a cultural impresario in Norway. Since 2006, Mark Steiner has toured Norway as well as large parts of Europe, Australia and the USA, both solo and with various incarnations bands. He has both supported and performed on stage with artists such as Madrugada and former Bad Seed Mick Harvey (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave). He has also played support for Michael Gira (Swans), Kid Congo Powers (The Gun Club, The Cramps, Nick Cave), Rowland S Howard (The Birthday Party), John Parish (PJ Harvey), and many others. He has played guitar for both Damo Suzuki (Can) and Martin Bisi. Mark Steiner has played several times in Iceland, in Tromsø and Tasmania, been on many tours in Australia, Portugal and the Czech Republic, and otherwise a lot in Europe
and the USA. He has succeeded in recruiting local band members in Copenhagen, Prague, Melbourne, Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, Athens, Helsinki, New York … and of course in his current hometown, Oslo.
Debuting as a solo artist in 2007 with the EP “Fallen Birds,” he soon followed up with the album “Broken”(2009), a collection of original songs that were recorded in Oslo, Dortmund, New York and Melbourne. The album “Saudade” (2014) under the artist title Mark Steiner & His Problems
was in production for almost three years, and was mixed by legendary Brooklyn producer Martin Bisi. The album was first recorded in Mark Steiner’s Stagger Home Studios in Oslo, and then overdubbed by various guest artists in Norway and many other places in the world…
Under the name Mark Steiner & His Problems, he has also more recently self-produced and released three singles with an Oslo-based band, including legendary drummer Ted Parsons (Prong, ex-Swans, Killing Joke, etc), bassist Leon Muraglia and guitarist Romek PaluchEdwards. The first single was called “Insomnia,” and came both digitally and as vinyl seveninch in June 2018. The songs “The Fuck-Up” and “Love Hate Love” came early as “eightinch” (yes, actually 8 “) vinyl in January 2020 with a couple of similarly animated music videos produced by Steiner during the onset of Covid-19 back in April 2020. Several newer projects are also well underway, including a side project called Sorrow & The Sea and collaborations with
Norwegian singer Ingunn Holmen and Czech violinist Pavel Cingl. Finally, the new Mark Steiner & His Problems album, “Black Hole,” is finally ready for release in early 2024.
links: - Official: http://staggerhome.com
- FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/MarkSteinerProblems
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/marksteinersongs
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/StaggerHome
- Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/mark-steiner
- BandCamp: http://marksteiner.bandcamp.com
- SonicBids: http://www.sonicbids.com/MarkSteiner
Mark Steiner & His Problems
international press
“Mark Steiner’s special brand of ‘Lounge-Noir’ will have you reaching for the booze and the
‘replay’ button.” – Swampland Magazine, USA
“Mark Steiner (and His Problems) is a well-known figure in Oslo’s music underworld, and he’s been around in Norway for so long that many assume that he is Norwegian. He is not. This exNew Yorker is a wandering scoundrel who one might find hanging out in the shadowy corners of a pub at closing time – whether the nearest street sign reads New York, Oslo, Paris, Berlin,
Lisbon or Melbourne. A musical vagrant who draws inspiration from the same sources which may have influenced Stuart Staples, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Rowland S. Howard – yes, that entire circle of hollow-eyed, black-clad night owls with melancholic dispositions and pocketflasks full of booze to match. Mark Steiner is indeed such a character… - Egon Holstad, NORDLYS, Norway
“American-born vocalist Mark Steiner has a commanding voice that is filled with passion and intrigue, sadness and lust. This double CD special edition release contains a myriad of musically and lyrically rich, sophisticated and emotive songs. ‘Broken’ opens with a moody instrumental track leading into ‘Broken Man’, a dark and melancholic song, while ‘Fallen Birds’ opens with the unpronounceable ‘Nisj’, a gentler and contented song. At times Steiner sounds like Mark Sandman, the late front man of Morphine. Steiner’s deep, contemplative music begs for several listens, though not too often or the melancholia will get to you.” - Scene Magazine, Australia
“Anyone who even has a passing interest in brooding,
dark, underground rock… should start paying attention to Mark Steiner.” - Rip It Up Magazine, Australia
“Euro Lounge in a dark and dank place.” - The I-94 Barman’s Top Ten List of 2008, Australia
“If you like Paal Flaata and Madrugada, or for that matter Tindersticks or Nick Cave, Mark Steiner should be right up your alley.” - Aftenposten Aften, Norway
“Impressive results – think Lee Hazelwood crossed with Rowland S. Howard with a sprinkle of Nick Cave… Seek, find, buy and you too will fall for his drunken and battered heart.” - Inpress Magazine, Australia
“As an LP, ‘Broken’ serves as a fulfillment of what Steiner’s contemporaries “The Devastations” have yet to deliver; for where The Devastations sought emulation without necessarily putting their own scars on display, Steiner has delivered an album so steeped in the misery of his own alcohol soaked wounds that the influence he has taken from others serves merely as a foundation for Steiner to drunkenly pass out on.” – Damaged Cannibal (Australia), November 2009
(Mark Steiners) “…profound creative process is obscure but lounge, swamp but groove in the same high with other scorched of soul poets, like Nick Cave, Steve Dietrich, Stuart Staples, Jeffrey Lee, Hugo Race” - Merle Leonce Bone, French Swamp Writer
